The picture below was posted earlier today on twitpic.com (thanks Thea!)
Do you have a rubber chicken in your Christmas Tree? Or is your tree especially Twisted in some other way? If so, send me a picture to tastingroom@twistedoak.com and I'll post it here - or share a link to your picture in the comments below.
Twisted Tidings!
Somehow I managed to upload all of my Cave Loot pictures to Flickr but not share any of them here on El Bloggo! Time to fix that! Here are few samples, but if you want to see them all, you'll need to visit our Flickr photo stream. Enjoy!
Go to twistedoak.com and sign up for River of Skulls then download a cool desktop graphic!
That annual ARRRR-Fest known as the Twisted Oak Cave Loot Extravaganza was a big success! Hundreds of The Twisted Few came out in full pirate regalia to enjoy a preview of our best 2007 vintage reds, as well as low prices on futures of these wines. (And they also enjoyed a preview of our 2008 Verdelho which is still mostly unfermented juice.)
We'll be posting our pictures soon! And if you have any of your own that you would like to share, please do send them to us - or let us know where you have them posted, and we'll link you up.
Big Big Thanks to everyone who came out to visit us on a very hot August day!
Once in a while we get a letter... Cathy from Michigan wrote in asking for serving and pairing suggestions for our 2006 Torcido. I thought what she was planning sounded pretty good and asked for a recipe and a couple pictures to share with you - and here's what she sent! Take it away Cathy:
Twisted Dinner featuring 2006 Torcido and 2006 %@#$! 7/11//2008
Menu:
Antipasti: Basil, Tomato, & fresh mozzarella (regular and smoked) with balsamic vinegar.
Entree:
Grilled chorizo sausage sandwiches, with sauteed green peppers and
onions and a side of Grilled garlic-crumb stuffed zucchini
Wine: 2006 Calaveras County Torcido
Dessert: Grilled Apricot & Plum pouches, prepared with a splash of the wine.
Wine: 2006 Sierra Foothills %@#$!
Impressions on the wines:
Torcido: Served at approx. 60 degrees. Decanted for about half an hour, probably needed about 15 more minutes to fully open up. Color: Garnet. Cherry and spices on the nose, particularly after having a bite of the smoked mozzarella. The cheese really caused the cherry scent to come through. When sniffing after a bite of the chorizo, there was a smoky quality to the nose. Across the palate, hints of cocoa, cherry, smoke, and spices. Plain mozzarella enhanced the flavor of cocoa. Tomato and zucchini brought out more fruit flavoring - berries of all the summery sorts. Very light tannins, and just a touch of a bite of alcohol. The finish gave a little burn, but more like the burn you get from a particularly tasty salsa. Overall, fairly well-balanced, well structured wine. 89 points.
%@#$!: Served
at approx. 55 degrees. Color: golden straw. The nose was filled with
summery fruits of apricots, peaches and berries. Across the a hint of the peach lingered, along with some earthiness that was very refreshing. There was a minerally quality to it that I found complimented the sweetness of the dessert quite well. Oak undertones rounded out the wine to give it a nice, surprising full body. Not a wine to be taken lightly. Have it with some nice ripe fruit, and it will tickle your tastebuds. The more I had, the more I liked it. It has a taste to it like there should be bubbles - it looks and feels like a nice, dry champagne, but without the sparkle. 89 points.
Recipes:
Antipasti
4 oz fresh, smoked mozzarella
4 oz fresh, plain mozzarella
2 medium red ripe tomatoes
8-10 basil leaves
6-8 medium lettuce leaves
2 Tbsp sweet balsamic vinegar
Slice the mozzarella and tomatoes into 1/4-inch thick slices.
Arrange lettuce on a plate as a base, so that the plate is covered. Arrange the mozzarella and tomato slices in an alternating pattern, then place basil leaves on top. Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the whole plate. Serves 4-6
Chorizo Sausage Sandwiches
4 links chorizo
4 sausage rolls, freshly baked if possible
2 green peppers
1/2 red onion
2 Tbsp olive oil
Slice peppers and onion into thin strips. Pour olive oil into skillet over medium-high heat and add the peppers and onions. Stir and cook until the onion becomes translucent. Set aside, but keep warm.
Fire up your grill so that the internal temperature comes to about 400 degrees. Grill chorizo until sausage begins to fatten and juices begin to escape. During the last few minutes of cooking, split the rolls and place them on an upper rack in the grill to toast.
When cooked, remove from grill. Place sausages in rolls, and top with pepper and onion mixture. Serves 4
Grilled Garlic-crumb Stuffed Zucchini
3 zucchini
2 yellow squash
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup panko
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided
salt and pepper
Cut off the stems of the squash, set one aside. Cut lengthwise about 1/3 of the way down on the squash to create a lid. Scoop out the flesh using a spoon. Chop flesh and place in bowl. Set aside.
Peel the remaining squash and finely dice the flesh. Add to bowl.
Pour 2 Tbsp olive oil and garlic into a skillet over medium heat, and stir for about 30 seconds until the garlic becomes fragrant and slightly browns. Add the squash flesh, and stir for about 3 minutes until the flesh becomes tender. Add panko and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese. Stir to combine.
Brush remaining olive oil on squash, being sure to cover the cut flesh as well as the outer skin. Spoon crumb mixture into the cavities of the squash, and place on grilling pan with the lids. Place on grill at about 400 degrees and cook for 8-10 minutes until squash becomes tender.
Serve with lids placed on squash at an angle. Serves 4
Grilled Apricot and Plum Pouches
8 graham crackers
5 plums, pitted and quartered
5 apricots, pitted and quartered
1 cup vanilla ice cream
1 cup %@#$!, divided 4 ways
Cut four sheets of foil approx. 18 inches by 18 inches.
For each sheet, break apart 2 graham crackers into 8 pieces each, and arrange in the center of the sheet. Distribute fruit evenly across the sheets, placing fruit on top of graham crackers. Pull the corners of each sheet up towards the center and crimp to make a pouch with a small opening on top. Pour 1/4 cup of wine into each pouch.
Place pouches into 400 degree grill and allow to cook for 20 - 30 minutes. Remove from grill and place on individual plates. Open pouches to form a bowl, and top with 1/4 cup ice cream (about one scoop). Serves 4
Epilogue: I'm having more of the lovely %@#$! tonight from Twisted Oak, and I am getting just bombed with apple on it tonight (after 3 days in the fridge). A definitive flavor of both granny smith AND braeburn apples. There's a little bit of sour cherry, too. It is SUPER smooth tonight - absolutely no heat from the alcohol at all. The finish brings out cantaloupe, a little (tiny) bit of oak, and there's still a touch of a minerally quality to it. I get a little ZING to on the back of my tongue for a moment. Wow. There's just whole new depths to this tonight. Score: 90 pts for the added complexity to this.
(If you make a special meal with Twisted Oak wines, send us pictures! And recipes!)
Speaking of favorite people, our favoritest Historian and snow globe collector Judith Marvin (if you ever need to know anything about California or Calaveras history, she's your gal!) just got back from a trip to Turkey. And because she brought her genuine Twisted Oak Rubber Chicken with her, she made it into Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle "Just Back From" section - an extract:
I went because: To sail the Lycian (Turquoise) Coast, visit historical and archaeological sites in Istanbul, Ephesus, Antalya and Cappadocia.
Don't miss: Swimming, snorkeling and kayaking in the bays and lagoons on the Lycian Coast, and hiking around Goreme.
Don't bother: Dressy clothing.
Coolest souvenir: A Whirling Dervish snowglobe; taken away from me in the airport, as it was deemed that the liquid was planned for something dastardly.
Worth a splurge: Antique Turkish carpets.
I wish I'd packed: More rubber chickens.
When you are packing for your summer vacation, be sure to pack plenty of rubber chickens! And send us a picture! Like this one!
Two years ago today El Bloggo Torcido began with the obligatory welcome message, which I called the Obligatory Welcome Message. In that first month we had a report from Hospice du Rhone in Paso Robles, a whole bunch of admin crap, a video by Pimp Daddy, and a rip on the silly rules that keep me from calling a Port a Port. (Hey, but with a name like Pig Stai you know it has to be good!)
Since then we've had contests, mayhem, and most importantly - people sending in pictures showing us their Twisted! (The rate of pictures has fallen off lately - send me stuff!)
I just want to thank everybody for coming along for this amazing ride!
(photo by Christine Molinaro - thanks!)
Longtime Twisted Correspondent Darrel Harris and his frequent companion Zorba Shows Us His Twisted during a group visit to Eberle Winery in Paso Robles. Darrel shared some group math that involved a "Dirty Dozen plus Two" that made my head twirl... so I'll just share with you the pictures of the group - though it seems like the guys got more into it than the girls... That first picture is Darrel with the Eberle mascot; I didn't know pigs boars could do that!
Long time Twisted Few member and Rubber Chicken fan Ken Drachnik sends along this photo taken at Badwater in Death Valley:
"We took Shaun with us on our recent trip to Death Valley. Here is a photo of Shaun (as in Shaun-of-the-dead-chicken) and Alex at Badwater - the lowest point in the US. Looking at the scorched earth, no wonder Shaun is looking so fried!"
Thanks Ken! (And for everyone else, why not Show Us Your Twisted?)
Tonight Fermento and I slipped into the city under cover of darkness to take part in the "Dark and Delicious" food and wine event, which was put on by Jo Diaz (that's her to the right there) and the PS I Love You group.
Thirty-six wineries poured nothing but Petite Sirah and twenty-one restaurants served food to go with it. Our 2005 Calaveras County Petite Sirah was a big hit, and so were the Rubber Chickens!
The event was scheduled to run from 6PM to 9PM but, even though we were serving tasting-sized pours, we ran out of a whole case of wine by 8PM!
We'd like to thank Jo, and everyone else who attended, for making this such a fun event!
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